Chicago, IL – On Friday morning, March 21, over 50 protesters gathered outside the Illinois State Board of Investments (ISBI) office in downtown Chicago. They came to demand that ISBI and Vice Chair Michael Frerichs, who currently sits as the Illinois state treasurer, divest from Israeli genocide, apartheid and occupation.

The Anti-War Committee Chicago and BDS-Chicago, a project of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), called the action in support of their statewide campaign against State Treasurer Frerichs, calling on his office to divest from Israel Bonds, and calling on ISBI to divest from companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine.

Protesters rallied with banners and signs, pointing to the fact that Frerichs has brought Illinois’ total investments in Israel Bonds (also known as Development Corporation for Israel) to over $145 million, making Illinois one of the top five states in the U.S. to support Israel. Since February of 2025, Frerichs has doubled down and announced the purchase of an additional $10 million in Israel Bonds, on top of a bond renewal of $15 million. His complicity doesn’t stop there.

Frerichs is the vice chair of ISBI, which has invested millions of taxpayer dollars into companies that are complicit in the occupation and genocide of Palestine. As of March 2025, ISBI holds 20,621 shares in Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer. Lockheed Martin manufactures the fighting jets used to drop the bombs that have been destroying Gaza over the past 17 months. ISBI also invests in other war profiteers such as Boeing, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman and many others.

Speakers were fired up during the rally and spoke to the many reasons why Illinois residents oppose these investments. Since the campaign launch, over 1850 Illinois residents and 40 Illinois-based organizations have signed on to the campaign to divest Illinois from Israel Bonds.

Kaya Rial, organizing director of AFIRE, said, “It is sickening how our government wants to implement dollars upon dollars of budget cuts from public resources such as health care and Medicaid, language access for immigrants, education and academic safety for our youth, housing and food assistance, and resources for survivors of police torture and all those wrongfully incarcerated while our state treasurer sends those same taxpayer dollars to fund the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the eradication of sacred, indigenous Palestinian land.”

Gaby Martinez, a rank-and-file member of SEIU Local 73, announced that over 30 members and retirees of SEIU Local 73 have united to file an ethics complaint against Frerichs. “Treasurer Frerichs needs to be censured in that he is not investing for the people of Illinois, but for his personal political agenda in support of Israel. The charges we make in the ethics complaint to the Executive Inspector General for the Illinois state treasurer are well documented. Violations include abuse of authority, corruption, favoritism, improper use of state time and other resources for prohibited political purposes, and misuse of public assets,” said Martinez.

As members of the public attempted to enter the building for public comment, they were met with intense police presence, including the 1st District Commander, heightened building security, and unclear entrance protocols, all of which were drastically intensified since AWC-Chicago and BDS-Chicago protested and gave public comment at the last ISBI quarterly meeting. Only five people were allowed to join the so-called public meeting, with 16 people directed to sit in the adjacent lobby. Building staff locked the doors of the building after the allotted 16 people entered, barring entrance to any other member of the public, including the remaining protesters.

Despite the attempt to intimidate the protesters, five people delivered public comments and demanded divestment from Israel. A member of BDS-Chicago addressed the board directly, stating, “This board and the state treasurer are more concerned about war profiteering than cutting ties with war criminals – more concerned with supporting an apartheid state rather than supporting communities here in Illinois that lack necessities like housing, healthcare, education and food.”

Michael Frerichs was not in attendance, a clear violation of the ISBI bylaws listed on its website. This is a repeat offense since Frerichs was also absent from the last meeting in December 2024.

As protesters were removed from the boardroom by Chicago police and the owner of the building, they chanted on their way out, making it clear that they will keep coming back until ISBI and Michael Frerichs divests from genocide.

Members from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE), Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Rank-and-File SEIU Local 73 Members for Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine-Chicago (SJP-Chicago), Chicago Irish for Palestine, and members of the public joined in support of the protest.

For Illinois residents, you can send a letter directly to Michael Frerichs at bit.ly/awcdivest

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #ChicagoAWC #USPCN #CAARPR

Chicago, IL - To honor International Women’s Day, on March 9, Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted a film screening of Si Se Puede a documentary on the 1985 Watsonville, California strike, followed by a panel discussion with activists in the Black liberation, immigrant rights and labor movements.

The documentary tells the story of a successful 18-month strike of over 1000 food processing workers by Chicanas and Mexicanas, backed up by the Chicano movement across the country.

The event was well attended by a diverse crowd of over 50 community members and activists from various sections of the people’s movement including Arab, Latino, Black and white workers and students.

The Watsonville strike was sustained for 18 months because of the unity of the workers and the support of the community for their struggle. The company hoped that their coziness with the sellout union officials would make the workers give up, but the unity of the rank-and-file workers and support from the community carried them through to victory.

Two of the panelists picked up on the struggle against sell-out trade union bureaucrats in Watsonville and recognized this obstacle from their own struggles. 

Chanel Crittenden of the Labor Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression put it, “This was a resistance led by the rank-and-file members of the union,” and that we should follow their example of unity when the capitalists attempt to undermine our unity with strategic attacks on older workers, or on healthcare benefits.

Eliza Schultz shared her experience as a UPS worker in the Teamsters in 2018 when the sellout leaders forced them to accept a contract that had been voted down. The union members who fought for a better contract were then joined by more members to defeat the sellout officers a few years later.

Vicky Lugo of El Consejo del Resistencia in defensa del Inmigrante (Resistance Council to Defend Immigrants), when she saw the Watsonville strikers having to stand up to the police, recalled her experiences organizing and winning permits for the street vendors in the Pilsen and Little Village communities in Chicago.

Another point underlined by Schultz was, “Unity is an idea built around an act.” The workers with many years of seniority revolted against the lowering of wages and cutting of benefits; younger workers were drawn in, and following that, the community rallied around them. The unity that resulted was how the strike was sustained for 18 months.

Crittenden compared the ironclad unity demonstrated by the workers in the documentary to the Chicago Teachers Union standing with their students against ICE, rallying the community with them and showing that it takes numbers to force the capitalist class to reckon with our demands.

Vicky Lugo recognized the people are scared, but they are not so scared they won’t fight back. She called for those in attendance to support a week of action beginning on May Day, including marches and boycotts, and led by their coalition of over 50 organizations.

Inspired by the women in the film, Crittenden stated, “Women didn’t fight for their right to work; Black women have always worked and want our work to be recognized. The capitalists will recognize the strength in our numbers and we can make shit happen.”

#ChicagoIL #IWD #UPS #CTU #ICE #CAARPR #Teamsters #SiSePuede #ChicanoLiberation

Chicago, IL – The congregants at Healing Temple Church on Chicago’s West Side welcomed veteran community organizers to a rally against attacks on their beloved city, on March 1.

150 people came to the church to defend Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, along with several other progressive mayors has been called to testify before racist Republicans in Congress. This is a continuation of the Trump agenda's attacks on Chicago for being a progressive city with strong movement forces.

Billed as a “Sendoff rally for Mayor Johnson,” when the mayor entered the church, it was clear this was a crowd of his supporters.

The crowd raised the roof with a chant made famous in the 1960s on the West Side by Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party: “all power to the people!” During the 60s, this slogan meant that Black people, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and the working class in the U.S. are the people, in struggle against the tiny minority referred to today as the billionaires.

Start of a new movement?

Jitu Brown, a new member of the first elected school board in Chicago history, was early among the speakers at the rally. He framed the advances in the history and current characteristics of the struggle here.

A veteran of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Brown is perhaps most well-known for the 34 day Dyett High School Hunger Strike to stop the closing of schools in Black communities during the Rahm Emanuel administration.

Brown reminded us that the ruling class has closed over 160 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system, stating, “They didn’t want to improve public education: they wanted to remove Chicago as a Soul City.” A soul city refers to a city that is a majority Black. In the year 2000, 54% of Chicago public school students were Black. Today only 35% are Black. 47% are Latino, and 70% are low income.

The Dyett Hunger Strike took place in 2015, following Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s closing 50 schools in 2013, mostly in Black neighborhoods.

Standing against anti-immigrant attacks

Brown added, “Today a lot of the energy is anti-immigrant.” From his history being schooled by the Black power movement, he said, “We will not support the oppression of any people.”

Speaking of the history of the Black community struggle for good public schools, Brown went after Brandon Johnson’s enemies, stating, “A lot of the negativity that you are hearing about our mayor are from those people who have been using the city of Chicago as a pig’s trough for decades.”

“It is time for the city to do right by Black and brown people. We’re sitting in a city that has never had an elected school board, now with one.”

“We are in a city that has had privatizers running the city, and through our collective work, we put one of our own on the Fifth Floor.” The fifth floor of City Hall is where the mayor’s office is located.

Referring to Mayor Johnson’s appearance before the Republican-dominated Congress, Brown said, “This is just a little pit stop to let the world know we are building a better Chicago.”

“No matter how loud they bark, they are not going to disrupt what we call the soul of Chicago.”

Mayor Johnson: “Beauty of liberation”

Johnson took the pulpit as the crowd roared support. After speaking about the Republicans he will face in Washington, he said, “It’s important that we honor those that had enough foresight to put measures in place to ensure that the voices of marginalized people would never be squashed by the federal government or law enforcement. There was a brother by the name of James Montgomery, the first Black corporate counsel in Chicago history. He was also the legal counsel for the Black Panther Party.”

The mayor went on to say that “James Montgomery sent a note to Mayor Harold Washington that we should not allow federal agents to run through our city. Nor should we allow them to force local law enforcement to do their job.”

“They understood how the brutality of law enforcement could harm people. Whether you are undocumented or a descendant of slaves, James Montgomery understood that we cannot allow the federal government to suppress or oppress our people.”

Johnson closed his remarks with this: “We’re going to make sure that the roar that comes out of Chicago ignites a movement across America and across the globe. No matter where you’re from, you get to have the beauty of liberation in the city of Chicago.”

“We fight for working people! Are you with me, Chicago?”

The people united can never be defeated

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the lead organizer of the rally, spoke after Mayor Johnson.

“If you consider yourself a Black freedom fighter, engaged in the struggle for the liberation of our people, you cannot be guilty of hating on the immigrants. You cannot fall for the seeds of division planted by Trump and his reactionary minions, that somehow, some way, poor people coming from the south of our borders, seeking asylum; poor people seeking freedom from terror in their own lands, encouraged and supported by our government; that somehow this poses a problem for Black people.”

“This doesn’t pose a problem for us! We got a problem with the same people they have a problem with. We stand united with these people because we share a common oppressor: the billionaires that have always used the tool of racism to divide and conquer.”

Chapman called for support of the Sanctuary City laws that prohibit local law enforcement from engaging in immigration enforcement. “We reject the ideas that immigrants are criminals and deporting them would take the crime rate down.”

“What would take the crime rate down is to deport Trump!”

Black/Latino coalition

About one quarter of the crowd in the church were Latino activists and community members from the nearby Chicano/Mexicano neighborhoods. Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez was one of the Latino activists who joined the rally, representing the 25th Ward of neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village on the Lower West side of Chicago.

Sigcho-Lopez explained, “Chicago is a target. Trump targets us for deportations, but Chicago is also our hope.”

As his three small children gathered around him, Sigcho-Lopez said, “This is why we fight for the quality public education that all our children deserve.”

Sigcho-Lopez called for unity of all working people – Black, Latino, Asian and white – against attacks on immigrants and against the closing of public schools and unionized charter schools like Acero. In addition, last week ICE seized a father dropping off his children at Acero.

What do these two movements of resistance have in common? Sigcho-Lopez said, “The billionaires in DC and the billionaires in Chicago don’t have enough, so they take from the poor.”

“When we see parents being grabbed from their communities, we have to stand for the dignity of our people.”

“There’s no place I would rather be than Chicago, the city of Rudy Lozano and Mayor Harold Washington!” Sigcho-Lopez referred to union organizer and Chicano community leader Rudy Lozano, who supported the election of Harold Washington in 1983. This created for the first time a Black and Latino coalition, making possible the defeat of the white racist Democratic Party and election of Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor.

Chicago Alliance: On to Washington

In support of Mayor Johnson when he appears before the racist Republicans in Congress, Chapman announced, “Black History Month is over, but Black history is still going on, and we’re going to make some today. On the 5th, we’re going to Washington, DC to support our mayor and our city.”

Sigcho-Lopez gave special mention to the role played by CAARPR in organizing the rally. Crystal Gardner, one of the West Side organizers, also said afterward about this rally, “A big shout out to the Chicago Alliance for having the blueprint, vision, mission and base to activate spaces and communities. This is only the beginning, and I look forward to many more!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ImmigrantRights #BrandonJohnson #CAARPR #NAARPR #CTU

Chicago, IL- On Friday night, February 21, Freedom Road Socialist Organization held an event celebrating Black history and international solidarity in the Black liberation movement. The event took place in the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) on the city’s South Side and consisted of a panel of speeches and some performances representing Black, Palestinian and Chicano liberation, as well as youth and labor struggles.

The night was electrified by music from Faayani Mijana and poetry from Brian Young Jr, both members of CAARPR. Their art lifted the spirits of attendees and provided a cultural connection to the political tasks raised by panelists in a discussion facilitated by Jae Franklin of the Anti-War Committee, Chicago.

“We are currently living in a state of siege, and our government is the enemy of the people,” FRSO Central Committee member Frank Chapman said about the Trump administration’s attacks against immigrants in particular and working and oppressed people in general.

“We must oppose all these racist policies put forward by Trump and his minions,” Chapman continued. “As oppressed people we must all unite and fight back!”

The main focus of the night was solidarity. Speakers pointed to the common enemies of working and oppressed people.

“The only way out is together. Black people and Chicanos are both oppressed nations. We face, for example, similar police repression and defunding of education,” said Angel Naranjos, a leader within Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and CAARPR’s recently formed Immigrants Rights Working Committee.

The panel noted that U.S. imperialism is an enemy of people internationally in addition to the multinational working class in the U.S.

“Our enemy is global so our response must be global,” said Nicholas Richard Thompson, the Chicago chair and Midwest organizer of Black Alliance for Peace. Thompson and other speakers emphasized the need to stand with oppressed people around the world against U.S. imperialism.

Panelists and performers specifically spoke about Trump's threats against South Africa’s sovereignty and his stated intentions for the U.S. to “own” Gaza. The panel also discussed how oppressed people have won in the past against imperialist representatives like Trump.

“The solidarity between Black and Arab communities is not new. Our movements have stood together in the face of imperialism, colonization and systemic oppression,” said Nadiah Alyafai of the US Palestinian Community Network. She explained the lineage of solidarity from the Black Panther Party to the Ferguson uprising, and then connected this history to the past year of protests for Palestine and against the U.S. backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Alyafai also encouraged organizations to join the newly formed Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, which was convened to unite a range of movements in resistance against the overt attacks that have already been coming from the White House and will continue for at least four years.

One of Trump's main targets is public education. This is why the Chicago Teachers Union is currently negotiating contract proposals such as academic freedom for teachers and elimination of racist evaluation practices, designed to protect Chicago’s oppressed communities from Trump and other racists.

“The battle for civil rights also takes place in the classroom. Knowledge of self and representation matters,” said Kevin Moore, a social studies teacher and Chicago Teachers Union member, also explaining why it is critical to stop the Trump administration’s attacks on Black history in schools and its broader attacks on the education system.

CTU recently continued its history of working together with community organizations by joining the CATA alongside CAARPR, USPCN, SDS, AWC, Casa Dupage Workers Center, and dozens of other organizations.

The coalition being built in Chicago is one of many around the country. It shows in practice a lesson from Black history that every panelist on Friday uplifted: united resistance is the best defense against the divide and conquer strategy of oppressors.

“Understanding Black history gives us a blueprint for the struggle,” Moore said. “The Trump playbook is not new. We beat it before, and we'll beat it again.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NAARPR #CAARPR #FRSO #Feature

Chicago, IL – The streets of Little Village in Chicago were filled with the sounds of drums and voices, February 8, as a crowd of 1500 people of all ages moved through this historic Mexicano/Chicano neighborhood.

Marchers representing a coalition of 30 organizations came together in response to the call by the Legalization for All Network for national days of action to stop the attacks on immigrants.

Angel Naranjos, a student from the University of Illinois – Chicago who grew up in Little Village, opened the rally on behalf of the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR).

Naranjos stated, “We’re gathered here today to protest the attacks on people who only came here searching for a better life. We’re witnessing some of the broadest attacks on immigrants in our lifetimes. People who are here to work are being attacked by a racist, reactionary Republican administration. It’s up to us to build a visible and powerful resistance. It’s up to us to show that when we get into the streets, when we fight, we can win.”

“We are an army”

Kobi Guillory of CAARPR and the Chicago Teachers Union spoke of growing up in South Africa, stating, “The racism that made Black people poor in South Africa, that keeps them poor is the same racism against Black people in Englewood, and the same racism I see targeting people right here in Little Village.”

Guillory also said about this movement against the attacks from the White House, “We are an army. If any one of us is attacked, all of us are going to fight back!”

Other organizations in the protest included Chicago Community and Workers Rights; Familia Latina Unida; Kabataan Alliance, a new network of Filipino organizations to fight Trump; Freedom Road Socialist Organization; and Students for a Democratic Society – UIC. With Aldermen Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward) and Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward), everyone came together for visible resistance to the Trump attacks on Chicago and its immigrant community.

Chicago singled out by Trump

Trump has singled out Chicago and Mayor Brandon Johnson because of the strength of the movement in this city. Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan has even complained that ICE has been unable to terrorize the community here because the people in Chicago are organized and know their rights.

But the limited attacks here and numerous attacks across the country are still traumatic. Dr. Mercedes Martinez of the League of United Latin American Citizens explained the psychological impact of separation of families, stating, “The inhumane treatment of our people is absolutely devastating. It will cause lifelong problems. The abandonment, the separation, causes anxiety.”

“White supremacists erase the true history of the U.S.”

Nazek Sankari of the US Palestinian Community Network, a familiar figure from leading many scores of protests in Chicago against the Zionist genocide in Gaza since October 2023, also spoke.

Sankari stated, “These last 19 days, there has been a slew of executive orders targeting immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ community and women. This is an attempt by these bigoted white supremacists to erase the true history of the U.S., founded on genocide.

“These same white supremacist forces are waging a genocide on Gaza. One executive order even threatens to deport the brave international students who participated in the student uprisings in solidarity with the Palestinian people last spring.”

“This is our land. We’re ready to struggle!”

Four buses of immigrant workers and their families came from the Casa DuPage Workers Center in the west suburbs to join the march, with many banners, bullhorns and drums. Cristobal Cavazos of Casa DuPage said of this movement, “We have a new consciousness. We have new self-respect and dignity. We’re workers. We’re replacing the chip that we’re illegals, that we’re criminals, that we don’t belong here.”

Cavazos continued, “This is our land. We’re ready to struggle!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #Trump #Deportations #NAARPR #CAARPR #USPCN #CTU #L4A

Chicago, IL – El frío extremo no pudo parar a la Coalición para Detener la Agenda de Trump, que movilizó a 2500 personas hacia la Plaza Federal en el centro de Chicago para protestar contra la inauguración de Donald Trump.

Bajo el frío sol del mediodía, los manifestantes se reunieron en la Plaza, marcharon hacia la Torre Trump, y luego se manifestaron una segunda vez ahí – todo para marcar la nueva fase de lucha en la que el movimiento por la justicia social enfrentará graves peligros ante la agenda de Donald Trump y sus aliados republicanos.

Más de 80 organizaciones son miembros de la Coalición para Detener la Agenda de Trump. Están unidos alrededor de las demandas para luchar contra el agenda racista y reaccionaria de los Republicanos; defender y ampliar los derechos de los inmigrantes; apoyar a Palestina; proteger el derecho de sindicalizarse e ir a huelga; detener los crímenes policiales; defender los derechos de las mujeres, de la comunidad LGBTQ, y los derechos reproductivos; y defender la educación y la libertad académica.

Varios de los grupos que organizaron la acción de hoy lideraron la Marcha contra la Convención Nacional Demócrata (CND), el año pasado, incluyendo la Alianza de Chicago contra la Represión Racista y Política (CAARPR), la Red Comunitaria Palestina de EE.UU. (USPCN), Estudiantes por una Sociedad Democrática (SDS) y el Comité Anti-Guerra. Al igual que en la Marcha contra la CND, la coalición es amplia, conteniendo fuerzas de todo el movimiento, incluyendo esos por los derechos de los inmigrantes, los derechos palestinos, la liberación negra, los derechos laborales y más.

Una pluralidad de los asistentes a la marcha fueron inmigrantes latinos, incluyendo a tres autobuses llenos de trabajadores inmigrantes de la organización suburbana del condado de DuPage, Centro de Trabajadores por la Solidaridad con los Inmigrantes.

La participación de grupos de los derechos de los inmigrantes como la Coalición de Illinois por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Refugiados (ICIRR) y Mijente es importante, especialmente porque los primeros ataques de la administración de Trump en Estados Unidos serán probablemente dirigidos contra inmigrantes.

“Vinimos aquí a pesar de todo, hemos pagado nuestros impuestos, hemos construido nuestras familias aquí, nuestros hijos nacieron aquí, ¡y no nos vamos a ir a ningún lado!”, dijo Martín Unzueta, director ejecutivo y fundador de Comunidad de Chicago y Derechos de los Trabajadores, y el portavoz por Mijente.

Otras organizaciones de inmigrantes también se movilizaron, como el Centro HANA, una organización coreano-estadounidense por la justicia migrante, y Anakbayan, una organización de jóvenes que lucha por los derechos y la liberación de los filipinos.

Además de los grupos de derechos de los inmigrantes, varias organizaciones por los derechos de palestinos que han liderado 16 meses de protestas contra el genocidio en Gaza por parte de Israel y EE.UU., como la USPCN y Estudiantes por la Justicia en Palestina (SJP) — Chicago, también participaron en la marcha.

Con un alto al fuego logrado en Gaza la semana pasada, grupos por derechos palestinos enfatizaron que esta victoria fue posible únicamente gracias a la firme resistencia del pueblo palestino y sus aliados en todo el mundo, y no por la benevolencia de Trump, Biden, Blinken o cualquier otra figura en Washington.

“Este logro solo le pertenece a la firme resistencia palestina y al pueblo de Gaza”, dijo Noura Ebrahim, miembro de USPCN y cofundadora de Boicot, Desinversiones y Sanciones — Chicago (BDS).

También protestaron contra Trump organizaciones de liberación negra como CAARPR, Black Lives Matter Chicago, GoodKids MadCity, el Centro de Justicia contra la Tortura de Chicago y más.

La participación de estas organizaciones de liberación negra es crucial, ya que durante la presidencia anterior de Trump se vio la continuación de degradación económica en la comunidad afroamericana, la intensificación de la represión policial (como los asesinatos de George Floyd y Breonna Taylor) y un incremento en el encarcelamiento de personas afroamericanas. Trump buscará continuar esta tendencia en su segundo mandato, aunque la resistencia, como en el pasado, será firme.

“No podemos permitir que Trump lleve a cabo deportaciones masivas de inmigrantes. Si vienen por ellos, mañana vendrán por el resto de nosotros”, dijo Frank Chapman, director de campo de CAARPR y director ejecutivo de la Alianza Nacional.

Para conmemorar el Día de Martin Luther King Jr., Daryle Brown, ministro de la histórica Iglesia Trinity United Church of Christ, saludo la manifestación con una bendición.

El movimiento laboral también fue un elemento clave de la coalición, con la participación del Sindicato de Maestros de Chicago (CTU), la Junta Afroamericana del CTU, los Trabajadores del Automóvil Unidos Local 2320 (UAW) y los Trabajadores Unidos de Electricidad — Región Oeste, entre otros patrocinadores de la manifestación. Muchos de sus miembros de base estuvieron presentes.

“¡Luchar por los derechos de los pueblos oprimidos no es algo nuevo en Chicago! Estamos aquí, firmemente unidos”, dijo la Dra. Diane Castro del CTU.

Otras organizaciones en la Coalición para Detener la Agenda de Trump incluyen la Red de Acción Anti-Guerra, la Sociedad de Renovación Comunitaria, la Red de Acción Árabe-Americana, Familias Trabajadoras Unidas Distrito 50 y más.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #Trump #CAARPR #NAARPR #USPCN

Chicago, IL – On the morning of Monday, December 2, about 30 demonstrators, led by survivors of wrongful convictions and their loved ones, gathered in below-freezing temperatures outside the downtown Chicago office of incoming Cook County State's Attorney Eileen Burke to demand she free torture survivors and the wrongfully convicted.

Speakers gave testimony, chanted, and held signs that reinforced their demands. Burke has a lot of work to do to keep up with her predecessor Kim Foxx, who freed over 300 survivors of wrongful conviction and police torture during her eight years in office.

“Our wrongfully convicted loved ones should not have to spend another holiday in these god-forsaken slave ships called prisons,” said Jasmine Smith, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance. “Eileen Burke could free them with a stroke of her pen!”

During the program, the family and loved ones of currently incarcerated survivors, including Tamon Russell, Ramon Banks and Devon Showers, spoke. In addition, formerly incarcerated survivors of wrongful conviction spoke or were in attendance, including Mark Clements, David Lincoln, Cordell Williams, Dante Brown, and Kevin Jackson – who was only just released in September. Kevin Jackson won his freedom in court after two decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Jackson was wrongfully convicted by now-retired Sargeant Brian Forgberg, alongside Detective Kevin Eberle and John Foster.

Those three detectives are responsible for the wrongful incarceration of dozens of other survivors who are still fighting for their freedom, including Rico Clark, Lester Owens and Douglas Livingston. Despite these crimes, Foster remains on the force as the commander of Area 5, and Eberle was promoted to become the head of the FBI task force on public safety.

On her final day in office, former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx affirmed the role of the movement during her tenure when she said, “The ability to have sustained change outside of an election year comes from that movement push.”

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and its allies intend to continue this fight until all torture survivors and the wrongfully convicted are free.

#ChicagoIL #ChicagoAlliance #CAARPR #KimFoxx #torturesurvivors #wrongfulincarceration

Chicago, IL – On Sunday, November 10, over 100 community members packed into a People’s Town Hall on the northwest side of Chicago. Organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other progressive community groups, the event exposed that the racist Oath Keepers are present in the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

The People’s Town Hall demanded that Mayor Brandon Johnson fire the eight active duty CPD officers named in leaked Oath Keepers membership records. They also called to establish a civilian task force to root out white supremacist extremism from within the ranks of CPD.

CAARPR member Faayani Aboma Mijana opened the event and explained, “Progressive residents of Police Districts 14 and 17 on the northwest side, and 24 on the far north side, found that three of the officers’ names who were leaked in the Oath Keeper roster were stationed in their very districts. From this, CAARPR members and residents engaged in months of struggle that included raising the issue in their local District Councils, a grassroots level police accountability body established by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance.”

Mijana continued, “Districts 14 and 17 created enough pressure to force their Chicago Police District Commanders to field questions about the matter. The commander from 14th District bowed to pressure and pledged to raise the issue to those with hiring and firing power within CPD, but the Commander in 17th District grew antagonistic and shut down angry residents.”

Out of these localized struggles, the residents of these three districts linked their efforts and organized the town hall. They hope to unite their communities and the broader city to push their demands and win.

After Mijana’s introduction, the town hall brought on Deputy Inspector for Public Safety Tobara Richardson from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG released a report that pointed out glaring deficiencies in the CPD’s investigation into the eight officers. The OIG also proposed ways CPD’s internal investigating arm could rectify their investigation. Up to that point, CPD refused to do so. In addition to proposing rectifications, the OIG also called on the mayor to convene the task force to root out “extremism” from within CPD. The town hall united with the OIG in pushing forward this task force.

A panel of leaders followed Deputy Inspector Richardson. Chaired by Mijana, the panel included CAARPR’s Field Organizer Frank Chapman, progressive alders Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Byron Sigcho-Lopez, progressive 14th District Councilor Ashley Vargas, and two representatives, Remel Terry and Abierre Minor, from the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), the city-wide police accountability body established by the ECPS ordinance.

The panelists emphasized the importance of firing these officers and rooting out racists from within CPD. They spoke to concerns that the impending Trump presidency will embolden these racist elements to inflict terror on communities.

In addition, the panelists charted out a path forward for the struggle, telling how pro-accountability district councilors and alders will need to sign onto the demands to pressure Mayor Johnson. The organizers and residents at the People’s Town Hall will take these lessons and use them to further build pressure on the city to remove the Oath Keepers and all white supremacists from CPD, and ultimately to bring the police under the full control of the community.

#ChicagoIL #CAARPR #CCOP #CCPSA

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of Barclays employees were unable to enter their workplace on Thursday morning, October 10, after protesters blocked off all entrances to the bank's downtown headquarters. Barclays owns $2.5 billion worth of shares in eight companies that provide weapons, components and military technology to the genocidal state of Israel and provides loans worth $7.6 billion to seven of those eight companies. The protesters demanded that Barclays divest from these companies as part of the international Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

“All elected officials in the U.S., especially Kamala Harris, must be held accountable for allowing Israel to kill, maim, destroy homes, and terrorize Palestinians with impunity,” said Husam Marajda, U.S. Palestinian Community Network – Chicago co-chair. “And businesses must be targeted as well, because banks like Barclays are in bed with weapons manufacturers and Israel, which profit from the killing of Palestinians.”

Twelve protesters, six at each entrance, bound their arms together in a sleeping dragon in front of the doors to barricade the building. Fifty other protesters chanted, passed out flyers about divestment, and supported the needs of those who were blocking the doors. Some passersby and employees inside the building joined the protest when they heard it was for Palestine.

The protesters held the entrances for two hours while chanting “Hey Barclays you can't hide, you are funding genocide” and “Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” among other chants calling for divestment from Israel and freedom for Palestine. Dozens of police officers, including SWAT teams, swarmed the area and shoved media and crowds off the sidewalk, blocking off two streets in the process.

“These are the kinds of actions people took to force companies to divest from apartheid South Africa,” said Angel Gonzalez with Students for a Democratic Society. “We will continue to disrupt because there can be no business as usual while the genocide in Gaza continues.”

Members of the organizations that carried out the action, namely the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Anti-War Committee-Chicago, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Jewish Voices for Peace, and others, waited outside the First District Police Station until all 12 protesters were released in the early evening. Before going home, the organizers vowed to keep fighting for divestment, an end to the genocide, and a liberated Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

“As USPCN has continuously stated, if Kamala and the Democrats aren’t going to stop this genocide, then we, the people, must do it ourselves,” said Frank Chapman, field organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “And this action and these mass arrests is one step to force it to stop.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #USPCN #CAARPR

Chicago, IL – 75 people assembled outside of the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, September 30. One of the leaders of the protest was Jasmine Smith, a young firebrand organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). Smith shouted into a well-worn megaphone, “What do we want?” The crowd roared back, “Justice!”

Demonstrations directed at Foxx have increased ever since she announced that she would not be seeking re-election at the end of the year. In 2016, Foxx campaigned for the job of the top prosecutor on a campaign slogan, “Chicago is the wrongful conviction capital of the United States!” The slogan she coined was in response to the legacy of Commander Jon Burge, whose “Midnight Crew” tortured hundreds of people – mostly young Black men – into signing false confessions in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Since becoming the first Black woman to lead the county’s prosecutor office in 2017, Kim Foxx has vacated more than 300 wrongful conviction cases. The Chicago Alliance, Chicago Torture Justice Center (CTJC), and Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity (MAMAS) have been intensifying their efforts to push Foxx to vacate more cases before the end of her tenure.

In the words of Smith, “Kim Foxx, we telling you to leave with a bang and free as many men as you can before you walk out that door!”

“There is no reason for anybody to be sitting in prison on the credibility of officers who have pled the fifth about torture multiple times” said Clayborn Smith, a recently exonerated survivor of wrongful conviction who was tortured by Burge and his underlings.

Other survivors and families of men and women who are currently wrongfully incarcerated and fighting for their freedom made up much of the protest. The coalition of organizations, survivors and families brought with them a list of demands for Foxx, which included a list of credible cases of wrongful conviction for her office to review immediately and cease prosecution of (reproduced below).

Later that day, the State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) held a Wrongful Conviction Day event where community members were able to write questions on index cards in the hopes of having Foxx answer them. While Foxx admitted to feeling the pressure from the movement, she made it clear that her resources were limited, and that additional governmental support would be needed to tackle the monumental task of reviewing all wrongful conviction cases in Cook County.

Foxx was adamant that she would not be able to pull off another mass exoneration like she did in 2022 with arrests that happened under ex-Chicago Police Sergeant Ronald Watts and ex-Officer Reynaldo Guevara. Those mass exonerations, she claimed, were possible due to clear patterns of abuse and misconduct by the officers.

But Guevara and Watts were not the only officers with clear patterns of misconduct. CAARPR supports half a dozen survivors of retired Sergeant Brian P. Forberg, a corrupt officer with almost three dozen similar complaints of coercion, abuse and misconduct, and over a dozen wrongful convictions.

In 2022 it was revealed that Forberg was married to an Assistant State's Attorney in the Conviction Integrity Unit in the SAO, responsible for reviewing cases with post-conviction appeals and determining their credibility. It is likely that she was making decisions on the same cases that Forberg had investigated. The clear conflict of interest resulted in a scandal with legal consequences in one of his cases, namely that of Kevin Jackson. Foxx’s office stopped prosecuting Jackson.

Forberg and his partners Kevin Eberle and Detective John Foster have all been shown to be engaged in abusive behavior, coercing witnesses to testify falsely against innocent men and women. With over a dozen known cases of wrongful conviction under his belt, there is likely enough evidence of “pattern” for a mass exoneration of his survivors such as Kevin Jackson and Rico Clark, another high profile case.

Burge and the Midnight Crew represent the first and second generation of torture cops in Chicago. Now, officers like Forberg, Eberle and Foster represent the third generation of torture cops, whose tactics have changed from torturing suspects to now coercing witnesses to testify against suspects. Third generation torture cop patterns and practices are often exemplified in cases with no physical evidence and which rely solely on officer and witness testimony, although usually the witnesses recant at trial, citing coercion by officers.

At her Wrongful Conviction Day event, Kim Foxx agreed that corrupt judges, prosecutors and police officers need to be held accountable, and that the movement must keep up the pressure from now up to and beyond December 1 when she leaves office, echoing a point made at the rally earlier in the day by Joe Iosbaker of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “Kim Foxx exonerated over 300 men and some women, and this movement made it possible for her to do that. No! It made it necessary!”

The coalition’s full demands below:

Move to vacate convictions and cease opposition of post-conviction petitions for people who were convicted based on testimony obtained through police torture, abuse and coercion. Specific people include, but are not limited to:

Antonio Porter

Michael Carter

Tamon Russell

Michaeil Ward

Matthew Echevarria

Robert Ornelas

Christopher Neal

Abdul Malik Muhhamad

Darrell Fair

Johnny Plummer

Clayborn Smith

Kilroy Watkins

Duel Thomas

Lester Owens

Rico Clark

Andre Mosley

Douglas Livingston

Donald Bates (Donald Haywood)

Hananiah Dukes

Elias Gomez

Gilberto Vargas

Kevin Jackson

Walter Thompson

Antoine Smith

Dashauna Gardener

Darnell Grigsby

Micheal Key

Taniko Boyd

Jaber Wilson

Jerome Golden

Eric Smith

Calvin Craig

Artez Thigpen

Billy Anderson

Devon Showers

Dismiss pending charges against

Ramon Banks

Jason Johnson

Lorenzo Williams

Coordinate with relevant offices to put in motion expedited and guaranteed access to conviction expungement and certificates of innocence for people who were convicted based on testimony obtained through police torture, abuse and coercion.

Publicly acknowledge & address the United Nations mandate (Ref.: AL USA 7/2024) issued in May 2024. This was included & outlined in correspondence delivered to you by MAMAS in July, and again by members of the press in September, 2024, and is available to read online at bit.ly/UNcpdTorture.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #WrongfullyConvicted #TortureSurvivors #CAARPR #NAARPR #CFIST #MAMAS

Chicago, IL – Chicagoans demanded action to stop police crimes on Thursday, June 30, at the first official meeting of the newly appointed Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), a citywide body charged with holding the Chicago Police Department accountable.

50 community members, organizers, police district councilors and family members of those lost to police violence showed up at Saint Sabina Church on the Southside to demand an end to pretextual traffic stops and so-called “tactical teams.” Nine of the ten speakers who gave public comments raised the demand to end these racist police practices which have caused the murders of Dexter Reed and Reginald Clay Jr among many others, as well as the daily harassment of Black and brown people.

While pretextual traffic stops are extremely ineffective at preventing crime, they do “lead to an increased number of unnecessary encounters between everyday unarmed civilians and special militarized tactical units,” said District Councilor David Boykin of the 6th District on Chicago’s South Side in the Auburn Gresham and Chatham neighborhoods.

“Any one of these interactions could easily escalate into a vicious killing like the one that we all witnessed in the case of Dexter Reed,” Boykin added.

Roosevelt Banks is the uncle of Dexter Reed, who was killed by five plainclothes police officers who fired 96 shots at him in March. Banks deplored the fact that the five offending officers had a total of 41 complaints for misconduct stemming from previous traffic stops before the one that led to the execution-style murder of his 26-year-old nephew.

“Why is it five tactical officers with 41 complaints on them when it should have been something after two or three,” Banks said.

None of the five officers involved in the murder have faced any consequences and all remain on paid administrative leave.

Andy Williams Jr. further urged the commissioners to abolish pretextual traffic stops, speaking from his own experience of having been pulled over and held for over an hour by four undercover officers in 2019.

“If pretextual stops are for safety, then why do we lose our lives with a pretextual stop?” Williams asked. “You’re trying to save my life for not wearing a seatbelt? That life is not here no more.”

After the public comments, Anthony Driver, an organizer with SEIU Local HCII, was elected by the other six commissioners to his second term as president of the CCPSA.

“I've been fighting for justice for years and I'm committed to fighting for justice for the rest of my time as president of this commission,” Driver said.

The CCPSA was created in 2021 by the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) Ordinance, a measure fought for and won by the movement to stop police crimes in Chicago. The CCPSA was originally seated with an interim commission appointed by the mayor and city councilors, but on Thursday met for the first time with commissioners nominated by the directly-elected district councilors and selected by movement-elected Mayor Brandon Johnson, as the ordinance requires.

Some people in attendance called for the CCPSA itself to be directly elected. This question will be put before the people of Chicago in November if the city council passes the referendum for Community Power Over Policing, a referendum that would also give the CCPSA a voice in the police budget, staffing, and negotiations with the anti-accountability Fraternal Order of Police.

“The people of Chicago have the democratic right to decide who polices their communities and how,” Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), said after the meeting. CAARPR was a leading organization in the coalition which got ECPS passed in 2021 and is leading the fight for the CPOP referendum.

“This referendum is a crucial step towards the people having the power to stop police crimes and racist policies,” Chapman added.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #CommunityControl #CAARPR #Feature

Chicago, IL – “This is only a pinch of what we're going to do in August,” Merawi Gerima said to 150 people who rallied outside the 18th District police station on the Near Northside of Chicago, May 19.

Gerima is one of the co-chairs of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST), a campaign of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). The main target of CFIST is the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, who has the power to grant clemency to every one of the hundreds of people who are still incarcerated despite their convictions being the proven result of torture by police.

“What’s going on in these prisons is horrendous. People are treated like animals. People like Rico Clark and Lester Owens are locked up by corrupt cops like Brian Forberg for crimes they didn't commit,” said Darien Harris, who spent over 12 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted, describing how the entire legal system, from police and prosecutors to judges and politicians, is guilty of mass torture and false imprisonment.

Protesters later heard a recorded message from Rico Clark, who is currently incarcerated. Clark explained the continuity between chattel slavery and today's prison system.

Protesters also admonished Pritzker and other politicians for their support of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“Pritzker has the power to grant clemency today. Pritzker has the power to stop funding Israel today. We are here to demand he uses that power for real justice,” Akiesha Lee, a member of Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) said after police barricaded protesters several blocks from Pritzker's house.

“Palestinians understand all too well the dehumanization and brutality that Black and brown people in this country face, as our people in Palestine also face the same kind of dehumanization and violence from the U.S.-backed, white supremacist, illegal Zionist occupation,” Nick Sous, a leading member of the Chicago chapter of US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) explained. USPCN is also a leading organization in the Coalition to March on the DNC.

“Black people and other oppressed people stand in solidarity with Palestine because we have mutual pain and suffering caused by the same enemy, so we have to unite and fight against that,” CAARPR Field Organizer Frank Chapman said at the end of the rally program.

“To these Democrats and Republicans, I want to say your time is up! We're going to fight and we're going to get justice from Chicago to Palestine,” April Ward declared. Ward is the mother of Mickeail Ward, whose conviction was recently overturned after ten years of fighting a wrongful murder conviction sensationalized in part by the Obamas.

The Sunday, May 19 protest was also the first of four consecutive actions organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, of which CAARPR is a leading member. On Monday, May 13, coalition members met at Pritzker’s downtown office to demand that he grant clemency to torture survivors and end Illinois support for Israel.

On Tuesday evening, the coalition gathered 200 people at the Garfield Park Conservatory on Chicago's West Side to protest a DNC reception. Protesters aimed chants at Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, JB Pritzker, Sean Casten, Dick Durbin and Jan Schakowsky among others for the two hour duration as event attendees filed in and out of the Conservatory.

On Wednesday morning, the coalition met at the United Center while press outlets were conducting a walkthrough of the site where the DNC will take place between August 19 and 22.

“Wherever Genocide Joe and Killer Kamala show up there will be protests,” Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of USPCN said at a press conference outside the United Center.

Abudayyeh continued, “There will be no business as usual as long as our tax dollars are funding the genocide and occupation of Palestine. That's why tens of thousands of people will be here on August 19.”

#ChicagoIL #FreePalestine #MarchOnTheDNC #FreeRicoClark #USPCN #NAARPR #CAARPR #CFIST #SOUL #DNC #BDS #FreeThemAll

Chicago IL – Students at the University of Chicago set up an encampment in solidarity with Gaza on Monday, April 29. After a week of threats from the university administration, the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) raided the encampment before dawn on Tuesday, May 7.

Videos circulated on social media show UCPD officers tearing down tents, throwing objects, and pushing sleep deprived students to the ground. UCPD also barred journalists and legal observers from entering the quad where the encampment was located. Some officers covered their badge numbers in an effort to escape accountability.

“They waited like cowards until the supporters had left for the night and most of the students were asleep,” an organizer with UChicago United for Palestine told protesters who gathered in solidarity the morning of the raid.

The 300 students and community members who rallied on Tuesday morning outside the U of C quad chanted “UCPD, KKK, IOF they're all the same” and “Paul, Paul, you can't hide, you're supporting genocide” in reference to U of C President Paul Alivisatos. Alivisatos is still the main target of students' demands that the university divest from Israel and all weapons manufacturers, publicly disclose its investments, and commit to a program of reparations for Palestine and the South Side of Chicago.

“President Paul Alivisatos won't even acknowledge the scholasticide that's been happening in Gaza,” a leader of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UChicago said during the rally. “Every university in Gaza has been destroyed! We will not accept our tax and tuition dollars being used to fund genocide and apartheid,” they continued.

The raid at University of Chicago marks the third student encampment to close in the Chicagoland area. Northwestern University students closed their encampment after negotiations with the administration, and students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago faced a CPD raid shortly after setting their encampment up on Saturday. The student encampment at DePaul University is still running over a week after it was set up on Tuesday, April 30.

In addition to police raids, Chicago student encampments have encountered aggression from Zionist counter-protesters and university administrations. On the other hand, the students have received plenty of community support led by organizations such as the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the Anti War Committee – Chicago.

“In truth, the encampment is never over,” SJP said in a social media post in response to a statement from Alivisatos titled “ending the encampment.”

The SJP statement continued, “UCPD may steal some tents, but they cannot break the bonds and steadfastness we built there.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #SJP #AWCChicago #CAARPR #CJP

Chicago, IL – On April 18, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, alongside other organizations in the Black liberation movement, called a rally at Chicago Police Department Headquarters ahead of the police board meeting to demand that the five officers who fired 96 shots and murdered Dexter Reed, Jr. be fired, indicted and convicted.

200 activists and supporters from all corners of the movement in Chicago, from torture survivors to family members of those killed by police violence, as well as those from the Palestinian liberation movement, converged on CPD HQ to make clear to the powers that be that Chicagoans will no longer stand for police terror.

Led by Kobi Guillory, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance, protesters repeatedly erupted into chants of “16 shots, 96 rounds, no more cover-ups in this town,” to draw the connection between the killing and cover-up of Dexter Reed’s murder with the one of Laquan McDonald in 2015, when CPD officer Jason Van Dyke fired 16 shots and killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. In the aftermath, then-Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-State's Attorney Anita Alvarez went to great lengths to cover up the footage. Years later, and the murder and cover-ups in Chicago continue.

“Frankly, I’m sick of this shit,” said Chantel Brooks, mother of Michael Westley, 15-year-old boy who CPD killed in 2013. “Every time somebody else dies, it ain’t do nothing but bring back memories. It’s hurtful. When is this gonna change? When are our kids gonna stop getting preyed on? When are they going to stop getting killed? When does a Black life really fucking matter? My son was a good kid, and they shot him in the fucking back like a fucking animal, and he never got justice.”

In addition to the demand on the police board to fire the five cops who murdered Reed, the lead organizers of the response to Reed’s killing put forward three other demands: Fire Police Superintendent Snelling; end pretextual traffic stops, and disband the TACT teams, which operate as death squads that maraud through Black neighborhoods with impunity. In fact, it was a TACT team that conducted the pretextual traffic stop that resulted in Reed being killed. The TACT team that pulled him over claimed Reed wasn’t wearing a seat belt despite the fact that he wasn’t visible through his tinted windows.

After the rally, protesters filed into CPD headquarters to make their demands to fire the officers known to the police board.

“Dexter Reed should be here today,” Grace Patino, a member of CAARPR said. “The officers involved in the execution of Dexter Reed must be immediately fired and prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. We need an immediate end to pretextual traffic stops, and Larry Snelling should be fired.”

Out of self-preservation, the police heavily limited the number of people who could attend the meeting. Those who couldn’t enter remained outside for the duration of the meeting, beating on drums and chanting for justice for Dexter Reed. After the meeting, with there being no doubt that the police board received the movement’s message loud and clear, attendees gathered outside for more chants and to discuss its next steps.

The three remaining demands of firing the superintendent, ending pretextual stops, and disbanding the tact teams fall within the purview of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), a police accountability body created by the 2021 ECPS ordinance, the passage of which was led by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. With power over CPD policy, the CCPSA can end pretextual stops and disband the tact teams. And in the realm of the superintendent, the CCPSA can issue a no confidence vote, which would put a ball in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s court to decide if the superintendent should be fired. The movement will take these demands to the next CCPSA meeting on Thursday, April 25.

This upswell in response to Dexter Reed’s murder took place just as there was an upsurge in the movement for Palestine. Just days before the protest at CPD headquarters, the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine called a Tax Day march in downtown Chicago. At that march, CPD brutalized many, arrested 14 protesters, and charged four with felonies. Only days later, and in a growing testament to the convergence of the Black liberation and Palestinian liberation movement in Chicago, Arabs and Palestinians, many of whom were at the Tax Day protest or at the jail support in the aftermath of the arrests, also came to the Thursday rally at CPD headquarters to demand justice for Dexter Reed. The chant of “CPD, KKK, IOF they’re all the same” made the rounds throughout the evening.

“Our Palestinian and Arab communities will always stand in unconditional solidarity with the Black community,” said Rania Salem of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). “We Palestinians know and understand all too well the dehumanization and brutality that Black and brown people in this country face, as our people in Palestine experience the same kind of dehumanization and violence from the US-supported, illegal military occupation and the racist, white supremacist, settler-colonial, Zionist state known as Israel.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #KillerCops #CAARPR #ECPS #CCPSA #USPCN

Chicago, IL – “We are busy building a new nation out of the embers of apartheid, and if we had sanctions and American companies withdrawing from South Africa it would devastate our country and create a total disaster,” said Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

Pandor is visiting the United States and speaking out against the U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Bill, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a vote of 36-13. The bill accuses South Africa of having a “history of siding with malign actors,” namely Hamas, Russia and China. It further says South Africa’s international relations policies “undermine United States national security and foreign policy interests.”

Pandor spoke during a meeting on Sunday with representatives of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

“We have become a target because we have been so prominent in our steadfast support of the just cause of the Palestinian people,” Pandor explained. The bill is being pushed through the U.S. Congress in retaliation for South Africa charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Israel has killed over 36,000 Palestinians in the six months since October 7, 2023, with the help of billions of U.S. tax dollars sent by President Joe Biden and the U.S. government

“For decades South Africa has been one of the strongest supporters of Palestinian liberation,” Hatem Abudayyeh, National Chair of USPCN elaborated after the meeting. “We condemn the U.S. government’s attempt to punish South Africa for opposing the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” and noted “the millions who have stood for a free Palestine will also defend South Africa.”

The bill was introduced by Republican John James from Michigan and Democrat Jared Moskowitz from Florida. It will now face a vote in the House of Representatives. If it passes, South Africa could face the kind of sanctions that attempt to destroy economies and starve millions in countries like Venezuela, Iraq, Syria and Zimbabwe.

“This bill is an attack on a sovereign nation for exercising its right to self-determination,” commented Frank Chapman, NAARPR executive director. Chapman and other members of NAARPR and USPCN discussed the importance of Black and Palestinian solidarity in ensuring the success of both liberation struggles.

“Those of us who've been in the movement for a long time have seen plenty of attacks like this. We've never been confused about supporting Palestine, South Africa or anyone who's fighting against imperialism,” Chapman said.

The next night Pandor spoke at a reception dinner at the DuSable Museum of African American History alongside Reverend Otis Moss of Trinity United Church of Christ and Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter. She saluted veterans of the anti-apartheid solidarity movement and uplifted the history of solidarity between oppressed people.

“Black people in South Africa and the U.S. share a common history and stand united against apartheid wherever it might be,” Pandor declared.

“South Africa is very near and dear to our hearts, so I will be on the phone tonight calling my congressman,” Senator Hunter said.

#ChicagoIL #IL #International #Africa #SouthAfrica #USPCN #CAARPR

Chicago, IL – Groups supporting Palestine are suing Chicago to ensure that Joe Biden “can hear us and see us” at the Democratic National Convention in August, sats Kobi Guillory, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC.

When the convention opens at the United Center, August 19, the coalition is adamant that they get the attention they deserve.

Guillory states, “As the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza continues unabated – with over 32,000 killed, almost all by U.S. bombs and missiles – we must march. This is the party in power, the party of Genocide Joe Biden. Biden could stop the war with one phone call. He refuses to take action, and so we must protest.”

A press conference was held at Federal Plaza, March 22, with Attorney Chris Williams, who acted on behalf of three clients: the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Chicago Anti-War Committee. All of the organizations are part of the coalition.

The three organizations had submitted a total of four permits. Williams pointed out, “The city made no effort to find a narrowly tailored restriction on protected political speech, offering only one alternative route, three miles from the DNC.”

The opening paragraphs of the complaint said, “Defendants unconstitutionally denied Plaintiffs and their members’ right to engage in political speech through peaceful assembly on public forums, thereby violating their First Amendment rights.”

Tens of thousands of Palestinians to march on the DNC

Leading the press conference Friday morning was Hatem Abudayyeh, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) National Chair. Abudayyeh has become a familiar face as his organization has been at the forefront of the Coalition for Justice in Palestine. Chicago continues to see protests of thousands of Palestinians and their supporters on a weekly basis, six months into the war on civilians waged by the regime in Tel Aviv.

Speaking from the Palestinian community about the protests at the convention, Abudayyeh said, “We mean business.”

Explaining that remark, Abudayyeh continued, “I am guaranteeing tens of thousands of people in the streets with thousands of Palestinian flags, with Palestinians from all walks of life, from all over the country.”

Lawsuit, pressure campaign and a pledge to march without a permit

Williams, of the Workers’ Law Office, also said, “The city’s ordinance at issue is an unconstitutional restriction on political speech on its face and in how it is being applied. And these are not just theoretical threats to First Amendment speech. The city has threatened to seek potentially thousands of dollars in fines and even jail time if organizations even seek a permit that the city interprets as duplicative under the ordinance, creating a serious chilling effect discouraging political speech at the DNC.”

According to Zhenya Polozova, a co-chair with the Anti-War Committee, “In addition to initiating a federal lawsuit to protect our right to protest, we’re calling on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to stand with the people and grant us a permit to have a family-friendly protest within sight and sound of the DNC. We are urging everyone in support of this campaign to call and email the Chicago Department of Transportation and the mayor’s chief of staff. More information can be found on our website, marchondnc2024.org.”

Polozova continued, “Whether or not the permits are granted, we will be marching on the DNC, and we invite all those who stand in solidarity with Palestine and with working and oppressed people to join us on August 19 and 22 in Chicago where the whole world will be watching.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #uspcn #caarpr #AWCChicago #Feature

Chicago, IL – The fight to get permits to march on the Democratic National Convention is heating up. On August 19 to the 22, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) comes Chicago. The massive movement against the genocide in Gaza is preparing to march to the United Center where the convention will be held.

The Coalition to March on the DNC has raised the slogans, “Stand with Palestine! End U.S. aid to Israel!”

Since the start of 2024, groups from the coalition have attempted to secure permits to march. Four applications by different organizations for different march routes and days of the convention have all been rejected.

On Monday, March 18, two of the organizations appeared before the Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings to appeal the denial of their permit applications, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Anti-War Committee (AWC).

Before going into the hearing, the coalition held a press conference featuring those two groups, along with others.

Emcee Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) said, “Tens of thousands of Palestinians – not just from Chicago, not just from the Midwest – are already making plans to be here in August. It will be historic.”

Abudayyeh is speaking from experience about the dimensions of the mobilizations in August. USPCN is part of the leadership of the Coalition for Justice in Palestine in Chicago. The coalition has held mass mobilizations weekly since October, and many of the marches had 10,000, 15,000 and even 25,000 people – just from the Chicago area!

Coalition demands city recognize the right to protest

John Metz of AWC said, “The Anti-War Committee filed a permit to march in protest during the Democratic National Convention this August. We seek to exercise our First Amendment rights to demand within sight and sound of our political leaders that they end their support for the genocidal siege on Gaza. The Chicago Department of Transportation rejected our application, instead proposing that we relocate our protest four miles away, well beyond the sight of any convention delegates. By doing so, CDOT has sent a clear message: They stand with the political elites in Washington and against the people of Chicago. Today we're asking the Department of Administrative Hearings to do the right thing and reverse CDOT’s unjust and undemocratic decision.”

Olan Mijana spoke on behalf of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the lead organization in the coalition. Mijana stated, “Black and brown people in Chicago have shown overwhelmingly we stand with the Palestinian people. The ceasefire [in Gaza] ordinance our city adopted had the support of Black and brown members of the city council. And Black and brown people have taken to the streets in mass numbers in support of the Palestinian resistance.”

1968: The whole world was watching

Liz Rathburn, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, spoke for SDS. “In 1968 the DNC came to Chicago, as our government murdered hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people. SDS mobilized thousands of young people into the streets of Chicago and forced the whole world to see that the people of the U.S. stood with the people of Vietnam. In 1968 the racist mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, denied people a permit to march, they marched regardless and were met with brutal police repression. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) would love a repeat of 1968, where they can brutalize protesters without consequence. They just got tens of millions from the federal government to do just that.”

The coalition explained that the movement demands a permit to protect the rights of everyone from the danger of police violence, or infiltration of the coalition by undercover CPD to entrap young people, as happened at the protests against NATO when they held their summit in Chicago in 2012.

If the city refuses to recognize the democratic rights of the movement, Abudayyeh said the march would happen “Permit or not.”

Hearing a kangaroo court

Dod McColgan, a co-chair of CAARPR reported after the seven-hou- long day of hearings. “According to Brian Gallardo, the assistant commissioner of Public Way Permitting for CDOT, both permits were denied on the basis of ‘issues of insufficient CPD resources, traffic management and access to emergency services on Ashland Avenue.’”

Asked about what departments gave input, Gallardo admitted he consulted only with CPD to make this decision.

McColgan also noted that after questioning, “Gallardo admitted that the Secret Service is creating a security perimeter which hasn’t yet been determined, but it will be within a few blocks of the United Center. This was also part of the basis of denying the permits to march near the convention.

McColgan continued, “Our attorney attempted to ask about First Amendment considerations in deciding the alternate route, and Judge Dennis Fleming sustained an objection, saying that, ‘The First Amendment is irrelevant!’”

McColgan noted with incredulity, “The city believes that the First Amendment is irrelevant to our right to protest!”

Gabriella Shemash, a deputy chief of CPD in the area around the United Center was called as a witness. Noting one of the several inconsistencies in her testimony, McColgan revealed, “They claimed that marching on Ashland Avenue would be unsafe due to the disruption of access to emergency services in the Medical District. The same deputy who testified today permitted an action we were part of on May Day 2023 to march on one side of Ashland Avenue, which directly conflicts with her testimony today.”

Deputy Corporation Counsel Christine Hake then attempted – after the city rested its case – to introduce a third reason to deny the permit. The application by the AWC is duplicative of the application previously submitted and denied by CAARPR because Joe Iosbaker is a member of both organizations.

McColgan remarked about the absurdity of this. “These are entirely separate organizations in a coalition. So any two organizations that share any one member would have their applications considered duplicative if they were submitted separately.”

“This reasoning poses real problems for First Amendment rights as the city cannot review the member rules for any organization before granting a permit. This is spitting in the face of the First Amendment of the right to protest and the right to resist!”

Coalition prepares legal fight and pressure campaign

Finally, McColgan made two announcements – that the coalition will probably have to take this case to a federal level; and that the coalition will launch a pressure campaign on CDOT and on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

“The testimony today makes it clear that the Secret Service determination of a security zone is at the heart of these denials.”

“We’re asking Mayor Johnson’s administration, elected officials across the country, all the organizations in the people’s movements, and all those who respect the right to protest to stand with us in the fight for this permit.”

McColgan concluded, “Either way we’re marching. There’s no stopping the masses who plan to protest the genocide in Gaza.”

Breaking development: Judge Fleming released his decisions upholding the CDOT denial of permits for both marches.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #DNC2024 #CAARPR #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #SDS #ChicagoAWC #USPCN #Feature

Chicago, IL – Over 1000 people rallied and marched from the Israeli Consulate through downtown Chicago on March 16 calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel’s genocide in Palestine and an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Irish flags rippled in the wind alongside Palestinian, Yemeni and South African flags on Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, as the afternoon demonstration highlighted the connection between Ireland and Palestine’s history of struggle and the need for solidarity against colonial oppression.

The event was organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), which has organized weekly protests against Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide for five months in a row since October 7.

Solidarity was a central theme in the remarks of the rally’s speakers, including Merawi Gerima, a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and a co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST).

Gerima emphasized the importance of unity of action, rather than unity of ideas, in building coalitions powerful enough to challenge the status quo. He cited the coalition for Justice in Palestine and Chicago’s Black and Brown Coalition for Palestine, which have mobilized massive demonstrations on a weekly basis and pressured politicians to take action to stop the genocide, describing them as “two magic weapons” for fighting U.S. imperialism.

“Solidarity is the most beautiful thing in the world,” Gerima said.

After Gerima’s remarks was Tom Callahan, an Irish American filmmaker and activist who is helping organize an Irish solidarity group for Palestine. Callahan spoke out against the Irish government officials who have met and presented President Biden with a bowl of shamrocks to celebrate their political relationship, even in the midst of a months-long genocide that Biden is facilitating.

Despite Ireland’s history of resisting colonial oppression, some Irish people “thought we could be free without everybody else,” Callahan said. “But Palestine is helping us remember that there’s no way out of this without solidarity.”

Tarek Khaill, a member of CJP and American Muslims in Palestine followed with a scathing rejection of President Biden’s recent delegation to Chicago to meet with Muslim and Palestinian leaders ahead of the primary elections. “We will not be used by this administration to further their political objectives,” Khaill said. “Our objective is the liberation of Palestine!”

After the speaking program, the crowd marched and chanted through downtown Chicago, busy with Saint Patrick’s Day foot traffic. Demonstrators held banners that read “No Irish pride in genocide,” “Hands off Rafah,” and “Stop the U.S.-funded Israeli genocide in Gaza.”

Before closing, a CJP spokesperson reminded attendees to mark their calendars for the Democratic National Convention August 19-21, when the Coalition to March on the DNC will center the demand for a free Palestine as they bring the People’s Agenda within sight and sound of the Democratic party leaders.

#ChicagoIL #CoalitionforJusticeinPalestine #CAARPR #CFIST #StPatricksDay

Chicago, IL – 500 people marched through downtown Chicago on March 10 behind banners that read “Stand with the women of Palestine” and “End genocide! Free Palestine from the river to the sea.” The event was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) together with the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and 14 other organizations in observance of International Women's Day two days before.

“It is especially the Palestinian women who are steadfast against this barbaric occupation. The Palestinian struggle is inherently a reproductive justice and feminist issue,” said Nazek Sankari, one of the co-chairs of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)

“Palestinian women have ensured that the legacy of resistance lives on generation after generation. They have always been leading the popular resistance, and their teachings and legacy have been enshrined in armed resistance as well,” Sankari continued.

“As a socialist organization we recognize that gender-based exploitation is inseparable from all other struggles against oppression and exploitation,” said Natalie Praneis, a member of FRSO. The connections between movements came through clearly in the program of speakers from the movements for reproductive rights, labor power, immigrant rights, anti-imperialism and national liberation, among others.

“We do not accept the liberal cooptation of Women's Day to support the feminism of the ruling class. We do not accept this system of greed that puts billionaire profits over human needs and tries to divide us in the process,” said a member of Chicago for Abortion Rights. “International Women's Day is not for the Zionist so-called feminists celebrating their equal right to colonize and blockade aid trucks.”

“UAW International called for a ceasefire, but I thought we should take it a step further so our local, 551, passed a resolution calling not just for a ceasefire but also to end all military aid to Israel and stand with Palestinian trade unionists,” said Marcie Pedraza, a member of Uniting All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a rank-and-file caucus of the United Auto Workers (UAW).

“Like Assata Shakur said, it is our duty to fight for our freedom, and it is our duty to win,” said Jasmine Smith, a co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression’s Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST). “All of us who are oppressed have a common enemy, which is this parasitic system, so we need to come together and fight until we win!”

“As activists we know that we need to pressure both political parties to get to a better society,” said Erin Boyle, a leading member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Illinois Chicago. “That's why this summer, SDS is joining coalitions to march on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, and the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago in August, and when we march in August, we will be first and foremost standing with the people of Palestine and Yemen, and demanding U.S. hands off the Middle East!”

#ChicagoIL #WomensMovement #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #SDS #UAWD #FRSO #USPCN #CAARPR #InternationalWomensDay #Feature

Chicago, IL – On Friday morning, March 8, House of Blues Chicago announced that the concert of Zionist musician Matisyahu, scheduled for that night, was canceled. The last minute cancellation came after weeks of pressure from the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the Anti War Committee – Chicago, Students for a Democratic Society, and members of the Chicago Black and brown coalition for Palestine.

“Chicago has made it clear that it stands with Palestine, and that supporters of the Gaza genocide are not welcome here,” said Nazek Sankari, USPCN-Chicago co-chair. “Matisyahu is a clear apologist for Israel and its crimes against humanity, so he is a legitimate political target, and we are celebrating this victory tonight.”

Matisyahu, whose real name is Matthew Paul Miller, is a white American and self-proclaimed Zionist who performs reggae music. A few months prior to his scheduled performance at the House of Blues, Matisyahu played for the infamous Israeli “Golani Brigade,” who have taken part in numerous massacres since the illegal establishment of the Israeli occupation and have been deployed in Gaza since October 7 where they have suffered numerous losses.

Zionism is a fundamental part of the Matisyahu performance. He often brings out the Israeli flag, affirms his support for the “Israeli Defense Forces” and the Zionist occupation, which has murdered over 30,000 Palestinians to date and is displacing hundreds of thousands more. His lyrics contain vague themes of “peace” and “unity” but these lyrics are at odds with his Zionist views, at one point expressing “There was never a country called Palestine.”

In the week leading up to the scheduled concert, over 250 artists signed a petition to House of Blues which said, “We will not allow for a musician who has performed for the Israeli Occupation Forces, raised money in support of Israel and the AIPAC lobbying group, and who continues to deny ongoing genocide, to perform in our city.”

“It's only fitting that an artist who built his career on Black and brown culture is being held accountable by a Black and brown Coalition for Palestine,” said Merawi Gerima, a leading member of CAARPR and one of the artists who signed the petition.

In addition to the petition from artists, over 1000 people sent emails to House of Blues demanding the cancellation of the zionist’s performance. The venue also received hundreds of phone calls. USPCN and the allied organizations had planned to protest outside House of Blues during the concert. According to a leaked statement from the neighboring Marina Towers, the Chicago Police Department was expecting thousands of protesters.

This was the third cancellation of one of Matisyahu’s performances after his Tucson and Santa Fe concerts were shut down. He was also met by pro-Palestinian protests in Portland and Minneapolis, and people are preparing to protest his upcoming concerts in Detroit and Cleveland among other cities.

“We are proud that we were able to shut Matisyahu down, but there are many other targets out there as well,” said Olan Mijana of CAARPR. “Our Black and brown coalition says, 'No business as usual while Israel is committing genocide,' and this is why we will be mobilizing tens of thousands for the DNC in Chicago in August, to expose the Democratic Party for its complicity. Genocide Joe Biden, Blinken, Schumer, Durbin, Duckworth, Genocide Jan Schakowsky, Casten, and others in the Democratic Party have blood on their hands and must be held accountable.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #CAARPR #USPCN #Matisyahu #SDS #SDSChicago #AWCChicago